This is blog for an endangered species-the old Rockefeller Republican. Expect news and opinion from this site.

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Smoke 'em if you got em: Now, I have not said much about smoking on these pages. Acutally, I haven't said anything about it. Until now. I want to say from the start, I don't smoke; never have seen the need to. I would also add, that my father was a smoker until 1980 and the result was a heart bypass operation a decade ago. I don't think smoking is healthy and people should be encouraged to quit. However, there is a big difference between encouraging people to quit and shaming them. The anti-tobbaco lobby has made it a point to demonize what was once a pesky habit. People now think they are going to die if the breath tobbaco smoke but they ignore the SUVs that are clogging our highways and affecting the environment. So, it's no suprise that the Suregon General has called for an outright ban. This happens when you make something so evil: of course it has to be banished from the face of the earth. And so we enter a new prohibition, that will likely fail as did the prohibition against liquor 80 years ago. When you make something like liquor or cigarretes forbidden, you only drive up thier mystique, you don't stop smoking or drunkeness.

Yes, tobacco is harmful. However, save making sure children don't use it, once a person is an adult, they must make their own informed decisions. I don't think we should force people to not smoke or not be fat; they have to make that choice knowing the consequences.